The Gold Standard of Immortality
by inplainclothes
Summary: The adventures of a hybrid and her eccentric, immortal, vampire family. Because you can't always chose your family, you just have to love them.
1. Life is Hard

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the rights to her respective characters and plot line; I just use them as I wish.**

* * *

Life had never been easy for me.

Granted, I was raised from infancy by a wealthy family of otherworldly immortals – vampires, as Emmett loved to point out – and, as a vampire-human hybrid, I was also lucky to strive within the immortal world. That was where my luck started, and ended.

As a hybrid, my family of well-to-do vampires were in constant danger of keeping my existence a secret. Discovered as a day-old infant in the woods by their Canadian mansion fifteen years ago, they had taken me in and cared for me graciously, always waiting for the day my maker would appear. But, as the years had flown by, it became clear that no one was coming for me. They were safe to raise me as their own – so long as my livelihood was kept under wraps.

Susceptible to blood thirst as vampires were, it had been crucial for the Cullens to keep me from the spotlight of the human world up until maturity had caught up with me. I was a mere seven in human years when I had reached the potential that my siblings had. I could now be viewed as a teenager to the outside world; striking and eager to learn the ways of the humans. Alice had taken it upon herself to accompany Esme and Carlisle in any outings, to ensure no danger fell upon us, while Edward, my constant companion and closest ally through it all was effective as a watch-out. Listening in to the thousands of thoughts surrounding us in a day combined with the near constant checking of the future had allowed my overprotective and overly-generous adoptive parents to let me off the tight leash they had reared me on.

And what a world it was when they finally had.

I couldn't get enough of it despite the constant reminder that I must keep myself hidden; keep myself closed off from forming strong bonds with the humans. It was easier, almost, for my five siblings to fight away the constant suspicions and judgements of the humans. They were all too _different_ and most tended to stay away before they even had a chance to determine just exactly what that difference _was_. For me, on the other hand, I was too like them, too humanized and less intimidating to approach. It was easier for the humans to discover the secrets I held because they were simply less frightened of me. My human side appealed to their senses and escaped their instinctive warnings so much so that I could accidentally slip up and reveal something they should not know or see. Like my increased speed, my advanced strength, my quick growth…

Really, in retrospect, I was quite lucky compared to my siblings and parents in the sense that I could just _be_. I didn't need to be careful with the way I spoke to the humans or looked at the humans or moved around the humans for they were not eternally petrified of me. I could just _be_ , and yet my floundering sense of humanity strangled inside of a teenaged girl's body told me the one reality I desperately thought to be true: my life was _hard_.

My siblings and parents needed to hide their true identities from the humans, while I needed to hide my _self_ – my very _existence_ – from nearly every creature, living and dead. Humans, vampires, shapeshifters…

The world was not meant for hybrids and my robust, moody, adolescent mind knew that all too well.

But, most importantly, my life was hard because I couldn't do what I wanted.

To be a normal teenager; to enroll in the local high school and have rebellious friend; to cut classes and skip out on homework and learn from my mistakes; to study hard and move onto college; to make something of myself that was more than just the hushed existence that I lived now. I wanted to be _real_. I wanted to be _human_ , and the worst part was that each of my siblings could experience such emotions while I was restrained to the house. Even now, as I listened in at the study door of my beloved father, discussing my recent fit with my adoring mother about my desire to attend school with the rest of my siblings, I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that life was about to get even harder.

For what was I to do during my endlessly open days?

Ear against the old oak wood door, I listened in as closely as I could, catching phrases and words here and there.

"… _hasn't aged in two years…"_ and _"growth spurt"_ and _"…be able to convince…?"_ were just some of the highlights I had been hearing for the past twenty minutes. Really, it was terribly difficult to live in a household where everyone could speak quieter than my advanced hearing could pick up. A _normal_ human whisper would have been no problem, but vampires could reach notes that were soundless to anyone listening.

Esme and Carlisle's words were too soft and muted to really give me a fair idea of whether I had swayed their opinion, though, in reality, a tantrum like the one I had thrown earlier in the night would have _never_ swayed an opinion other than an eyeroll and a stern talking to –

"What are you doing?"

The whispered voice of my boisterous older brother, Emmett, interrupted my spying and I turned to glare up at him, his stature making it so that he hovered over me by a foot and a half. His entire body encompassed me in his shadow and I now stood in the dark of the doorway. The voices on the other end grew quieter and may have even halted altogether. They were impossible to hear, now.

"Thanks, Em," I whispered sarcastically. He shot me a wide-eyed, unashamed glance, clearly lost in the reason for my immediate annoyance. But he had been _there_ ; he should _know_. And the raise of his eyebrows as he glanced from the closed door to me told me that he did know, and was beginning to realize just why I was huddled before the closed door of Carlisle's study.

"You know what they say about eavesdroppers, don't you?" he denoted with a devilish grin that showed off his dimples. I rolled my eyes, not willing to go along with his jabs. Emmett was not fun to be around when in a certain ornery mood; he tended to egg on a reaction.

"I'm just trying to hear if they're going to let me go to school next year," I hissed and turned my attention back to the door at hand. "And you're not making that any easier," I chastised as I pressed my ear back to the door. Carlisle and Esme were deathly quiet now which meant they had either taken their conversation elsewhere, where in the habit of speaking below listening range, or had given up the farce to listen to Emmett and I banter. I was betting on the second option and was proven correct when Emmett grabbed onto my arm, albeit a tad roughly, and pulled me out of the way.

"Let me listen," he whispered and, like a child excited for the notion of salacious gossip, ducked to press his ear to the door as I had. I stood, arms crossed, foot prevented from tapping as I stared at his curly black hair. His eyes were wide as he listened and full of excitement and I knew involving him had been a mistake. Emmett loved to increase drama. But, as he pulled away, he only shot me a tentative smile and shrugged. "Seems it could go either way, kid."

I groaned.

"What are they saying? Is Esme at least fighting for me? Do you think they are going to reach an outcome tonight?" The questions could have continued but Emmett pressed his finger to his lips, shushing me harshly.

"They can definitely hear you, first of all," he quipped and I pressed my lips together. No need to make matters worse. "And second, it doesn't sound like either of them are for…or against you going. I think they are just weighing the pros and cons."

"Pros and cons?!" I cried a little too loudly and moved to push Emmett out of the way. "Here's a pro," I insisted harshly, toning down my voice a hint, "I actually get to _do_ something with my life instead of wasting away _here_!"

Emmett chuckled at my dramatics and then called out with an angry, " _Hey!_ " as I tried to push him out of the way so I could go back to listening. "You need to learn some _manners_ , kid," he teased and, normally, I'd apologize unwillingly and everything would be fine, but tonight I was at my wits end.

"Bite me," I grumbled and, after a bit more of a struggle, managed to shoulder him to the side just enough so that I could listen in as well.

Silence.

There was no use to listening anymore and I knew that my growing irritation would only harden their case even more, so I stood back and crossed my arms, deciding to wait out the conversation in my own stewing irritation. Emmett found this to be hilarious as he switched between grinning in amusement at my peeved positioning, and listening in at the door. Despite his overbearing _annoyingness_ , he was actually quite helpful when he needed to be.

Finally, after what felt like _hours_ , he put up a hand.

"They're bringing Edward into this now," he whispered quietly and I felt a spark of hope settle over me. If the decision was up to Edward, if he was the tie breaker, he would undoubtedly agree to let me do what I wanted. We had talked in depth about my enrolling in high school, and he thought it was a brilliant idea – given that he was there with me which, seeing as we had practically been attached at the hip since my arrival, was a no brainer.

Emmett looked up from the door suddenly, a panicked and guilty look upon his cherubic face before he bolted around me, whispering, _"They're coming!"_ in a rather loud voice. I knew it was my cue from him to ditch as he had, but I felt I could not waste what may be my last, for another decade or so, opportunity and so I stayed planted where I was, five feet in front of the study.

When the door opened, I launched into my pre-rehearsed and probably tired argument, watching Esme and Carlisle's eyes go from amused, to annoyed, back to amused.

"My aging has slowed, while my desire for knowledge has not – Carlisle, you of all people should be _ecstatic_ with my wish to attend school – and I am willing to put in the time and effort to do well in my courses while maintaining the secret of my existence. I'll be just a normal teenager to all the humans and they will think nothing of me. Alice and Edward will be graduating this year and, what with none of the others enrolled in college, I _request_ that we move somewhere else so that I can also start school. Carlisle, you yourself said that leaving the hospital next year would not put a damper on your coworkers and Esme has said _many_ times that she'd like to travel somewhere else for a change.

Edward has already agreed to share all of my classes with me, so, in conclusion, I believe that I have a right to demand an education outside of Esme's homeschooling – sorry, Esme – and I think, no I _know_ I am ready for it now." The collective breath I took was enough to give me a slight head rush. I stood my ground, staring between Carlisle and Esme's equally as interested faces.

"Please," I added in quickly as a bonus and received a laugh from Esme and a smile from Carlisle.

"And how long have you been practicing _that_?" Carlisle asked, his eyebrows raising in what I hoped was impression.

"All evening," I answered as I rung out my fingers. I knew no amount of further begging would help my case and so I waited as patiently as I possibly could which, because I was _me_ , was with hardly any at all.

Carlisle sighed and Esme reached around to press her lips to his cheek.

"I'll let you handle this, dear," she said and then moved past me, brushing her hand lovingly along my shoulder. It was just me and the doctor now, and I honestly had no idea what was going through his head. I wished Edward was back from his hunting trip with Alice and Jasper. He would know how to handle the next step.

"Bella," Carlisle started on a serious note that had my stomach flipping inside out with anxiety. "I know you are desperate for an answer now, but your mother and I think it is best if we have a conversation with Edward first about our concerns and boundaries." He raised a finger as my eyes lit up. " _But_ ," he continued heavily, "this is not a soft _no_ , or a hard _yes_ ; this is just further discussion, do you understand?"

I nodded excitedly, clasping my hands together because I knew, despite Carlisle's assurances that this was _not_ a yes, that it was a victory nonetheless. Involving Edward meant that they were heavily considering allowing me to attend school so long as I was looked after and that would not be a problem with Edward. He was protective enough as it was, sometimes even more so than Carlisle, though I was suspicious that they may be protective for different reasons. Nevertheless, a referral to Edward was a _very_ good sign.

"Okay," Carlisle sighed exaggeratedly and waved his hand once in dismissal. "Edward, Alice, and Jasper should be home soon. I will talk with him _alone_ when he gets here and you'll have your answer tomorrow morning."

I was practically shaking with excitement as I flung myself at Carlisle, wrapping my arms around his neck. My excitement bubbled over to him and he laughed softly as I kept up a chant of, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Now go to your room and try not to listen in on any other conversations, whether or not they are about you," he insisted in a feigned tired voice and I sucked in a breath, trying to keep my cheeks from burning with my widened smile.

"Yes, dad," I agreed and then, with one last grin, was rushing to my bedroom and flinging onto my mattress in joy.

I was going to _school!_

The elation didn't die throughout the night, but became a more subdued thrill as I waited eagerly for Edward's return and, when he did return late into the night as I sat at my desk, absorbed in a drawing I was sketching for Esme, the enthusiasm bubbled up once more.

He climbed in through my bedroom window – something he often did when something was bothering him and he didn't want a running commentary from the entire family, spoken or otherwise – and his golden eyes were tinged with irritation before they softened upon meeting my gaze from across the room. I watched as he inhaled and sighed, dragging himself dramatically over the sill of my window and across the floor until he reached my bed. He effectively dropped himself onto the mattress, much in a similar fashion as I had earlier in the night, though mine had been on my stomach and in excitement while his was on his back and in enervation. His long limbs hung off the end of the bed by a few inches, but he stayed put regardless. Besides, it wasn't entirely out of the ordinary for Edward to drop himself dramatically to my bed.

" _Bella_ ," he groaned, clearly agitated about something that had happened earlier in the night, before becoming still as a statue, eyes closed, with the only movement the rise and fall of his chest with each unnecessary, but automatic breath. Previous battle and victory forgotten, I stared for a bit too long – really, it was hard _not_ to stare at the Adonis that was Edward Cullen – before moving from my chair to sit on the edge of the bed with whatever room he had left me. And he always left me room, just below my pillow so that we were within perfect distance.

"What's wrong?" I pressed quietly and his brooding increased ten-fold as he peeled back one pale, lavender eyelid to study me from for a moment before sighing exaggeratedly and falling back into a false slumber. He looked funny, stretched out on my too-small bed, with a simple pucker to his brow but, at the same time, he looked entirely too _un_ funny and entirely too glorious. He _kind_ of took my breath away.

"It's a girl…" he started with a hint of derision and, despite always having known in the back of my mind that this day would come, I couldn't help that immediate reaction of my lungs holding the air they had taken and my muscles freezing in place. Edward, having sensed my reaction, looked over at me apologetically and with a hint of amusement.

"Not like that," he said and I immediately relaxed, ignoring the small curl to his lips as he watched my counter reaction.

"A girl, as in _Alice_ ," he explained and I shot him a glare. Why couldn't he have started out with that, and not his oh-so-typical melodramatic entrance?

"What did Alice do this time?" I asked, knowing, undoubtedly, that it was _something_. There was never a time when Alice _hadn't_ annoyed someone in the family, and it was usually either Edward, Rosalie, or me.

He sighed theatrically and ran a pale, long-fingered hand through his untamed bronze hair, even more so after his wild run, and closed his eyes once more.

"She's hiding something from me," he said after a long pause.

His eyes flashed open as he stared up at my ceiling, hands resting across his chest, "From _me_ , the only one who may be able to help her decipher her abhorrently confusing visions."

He sat up quickly, looking over at me, our faces a mere six inches apart. His eyes crystallized and I studied the mixing runs of onyx and emerald green, a reminiscence of his human life, flecking throughout the pure gold irises.

"Jasper hasn't any idea what she saw either, but I am guessing it has to do with me," he accused.

It took everything within me not to roll my eyes. He always assumed the absolute worst.

"Maybe it's a gift she is planning for you. Christmas _is_ in a week," I reminded him and watched as his shoulders slumped in misery.

"I don't like surprises," he insisted despite his absolute _love_ of receiving things from Carlisle and Esme.

"And I know what you are thinking," he started, wagging his pointer finger at me in a sign of resistance. "The Baby Grand doesn't count."

Of course, he had guessed the direction of my thoughts.

"Oh, _definitely_ not," I mimicked, my tone aghast. "And neither did the collection of first edition Frank Haddock's from Jasper, or the Mausoleum tour from Rosalie, or the – no!" My possibly never-ending list was cut off by a stark cry-turned-laughter straight from my stomach as Edward's lithe fingers danced mercilessly over my waist and up my torso, ending my tirade before I could even really begin. The tickling was sudden, but not nearly as painful as the laughter as I begged him to stop, nearly slipping off the bed in the process. He wrapped an arm around my waist to right me and brushed the hair out of my face, his lopsided grin giving me as many goosebumps as it did warm, tingling sensations up my spine.

"Don't forget the Victoria Falls," he added as his dancing eyes watched me catch my breath.

"How could I? You snuck us in during the night and threw me in." I had only been with the Cullens for five years at the time, and Alice had helped me pick out something suited for Edward's tastes. He loved cultures, and he loved traveling – two things I had not experienced much of.

"My gifts from you are always my favorites," he said instead of replying to my accusation, though it was not an entirely _true_ one. I had, as a child, been on his back and had, at the time, agreed that it seemed fun.

It was cold – and frothy.

I rolled my eyes, the ridiculous smile still pinned to my face as he tightened his grip on me. I could feel the chill of his fingers through my thin long-sleeve and remembered at once the main reason I had been so impatient for his return – convincing Carlisle and Esme.

"Edward!" My excitement returned ten-fold as I moved to kneel before him on my toes, pressing my hands to his hard shoulders. He looked up at me in question, curious as to my sudden change in temperament. "I need you to talk to Carlisle for me!" I moved from the bed quickly, pulling at his arm as I did to get him to move with me. He did, much faster than I had been able to.

"What for…?" he started and then trailed off, his eyes glancing away towards my closed door and then back to me, understanding lighting his gaze. I always knew what that look meant – he was listening to something, or some _one_ , elsewhere.

"Ah," he said and then smiled softly. He placed his hand on my warm cheek, "Fret not, I will speak with them," and then was gone, leaving me standing in the middle of my room with a pit the size of an apple growing in my stomach.

They _had_ to say yes; they just _had to_.

 **A few things to clear up: Bella is a hybrid found fifteen years ago by the Cullens. She is, therefore, fifteen years old in** _ **human**_ **years, though she has been physically and emotionally a teenager for a few years prior to that due to a hybrid's quick growth. Edward and Bella are** _ **not**_ **a couple as of now due to her young, legitimate age. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Life is Only Semi-hard

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer holds the rights to her respective characters.**

 _ **A/N: So, I don't exactly have an actual plot outlined for this story (I do have a general sense of where I want it to go), so the chapters will be more drabble-like than actually advancing to something bigger, if that makes sense? Previous fanfictions that I have written, I had an outline and never seemed to stick with it, so I'm hoping this flow will be easier for me to follow. Plus, that means shorter chapters, but faster updates than my usual. :)**_

The conversation between Edward and Carlisle, or Edward and Esme, or all three didn't last too long, which I was afraid was not a good sign but, as Edward made his way back into my bedroom, door already slightly cracked as an invitation, his expression told me everything.

I jumped at him, an overjoyed laugh leaving my throat at the same moment. He chuckled, catching me around the waist.

"There are a few mandates," he started but I shook my head, hiding my face in the crook of his neck, the smile on my face hard to contain.

"I don't care," I insisted, squeezing him tighter. He smelled good; too good, so I let go.

"Don't forget these things I do for you, Bella," he said exuberantly as he tapped me on the nose gently.

"I won't," I promised, clasping my hands before me. I didn't know how I was going to sleep tonight. "I need to thank them!"

Edward caught me around the waist as I made to hightail to Carlisle and Esme's room to express my never-dying gratitude for the opportunity, his nose crinkling just slightly.

"Wait until tomorrow morning," he insisted and though I didn't want to admit it, I knew the reasoning. A disgusted sound flew my throat and I moved to drop back to my desk.

"This family is _obsessed_ with sex," I jeered, trying to rein in the many, unwarranted images his words brought about – mainly of Rosalie and Emmett. They were the most _graphic_ about their sex life. At least the rest _tried_ to hide it.

Edward rolled his eyes.

"Tell me about it," he said, but his tone was rough and I thought I saw a hint of something often hidden as he looked away from me quickly. His gaze dropped directly to the sketch I had been working on and, grateful for the redirection, I held it up for him. My heated face was beginning to cool as I illustrated for him the scenery of New York I had captured.

"I figured Esme would like a landscape of the western view she loves so much," I explained as Edward trailed his pointer finger along the Adirondack mountain range, an impressed look on his face.

"Was this going to be part of your plan to convince them to leave New York? Give her one of your poignant designs to rope her into it?"

I shrugged, letting the page fall back to my desk. "I thought it couldn't hurt," I answered and then beamed up at him. He only shook his head with a smile and told me to get some sleep.

xx

The next morning, after I had rejoiced countless times with Esme and Carlisle about how ecstatic I was that they were my parents and that they, in turn, had had the _brilliant_ decision to allow me to attend school, Alice bustled me to her bedroom, showing off her hundreds of outfits she had recently acquired online.

"Honestly, the internet has been the greatest invention for me," she boasted excitedly.

"Really?" I imposed, raising an eyebrow at her. "Not the radio, or washing machines, or vacuum cleaners?"

Jasper scoffed from where he was sitting in the corner of their room, against the covered window. "Alice doesn't clean, Bella."

He caught something between his fingers before it hit his head – a coat hanger. Alice glared at him as he tried to hide a smile.

"Okay, Ms. Know-it-all. Looks like you don't need to go to school after all," she jeered and turned away from the two of us, who remained silently laughing, as she continued to hang up her new winter wardrobe.

"And a pea coat," she grinned happily, hugging the maroon colored fabric to her chest. She was so easily distracted. "Everyone in school will be _gagging_ when they see me."

I glanced over at Jasper who rolled his eyes, but there was still a hint of humor in his honey-colored irises. No matter how eccentric and _current_ she tried to be, Jasper never looked down on her, and I admired him for that. I, for one, _did_.

"I'm sure they already do." I could hardly hide the judgmental look my expression accompanied my words with, and Alice laughed shortly, without any humor.

" _Gagging_ as in they will be jealous out of their minds, Bella. Learn the ways of the humans, would you?"

"I've been around plenty of humans and I've never heard one say _that_ ," I insisted, but I knew that I was going to ask Edward about it later today. There was no point in letting Alice know I believed her, by even an eighth.

"Can't you just look to see how they will react?" I asked, picking at a dainty pair of gloves on the desk before she slapped them out of my hands. I cradled my hand, feigning injury.

" _Yes_ , but where would be the fun in that? I want to see each and every one of their faces when they realize that I truly _am_ a Fashion Icon." Alice was, out of the entire family, the most delusion. Of course, anyone could be a _fashion icon_ when their family was worth at _least_ a billion dollars. When money wasn't an option, you could be any icon you wanted. But that reminded me…

"What did you see when you were hunting with Edward? He told me you were hiding something from him." Argument momentarily forgotten, Alice rolled her eyes and waved her hand dramatically as though to dismiss any claims. She dropped to the stool in the center of her large, walk-in closet as I curled up on the bed. I could see Jasper, out of my periphery, cock his head towards us. Clearly, he still did not know the vision either.

Jasper was the quietest out of all of us, but he was no less curious than the rest.

Alice's bright gold eyes met mine, weepy and shiny in their depth as though just the reminder of her taciturn vision brought back horrid memories. She closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, before nodding slightly. She must have been checking where Edward was or, more likely, when he was returning to the house – he had left with Carlisle on some excursion to search out a first-edition record that the two of them had had some fond memories over.

"Do you _promise_ not to say anything to Edward when he gets back?" she asked quietly and I nodded, though in the back of my mind I knew that if it was something he honestly needed to know, I would hint at him.

"And," she continued, whether or not she had picked up on my mediocre lie obviously not important to the vision, "before I tell you, you must agree to do as I ask."

I scoffed in derision at the same time as Jasper chuckled.

"We've talked about this, Alice," he warned, but his tone was no more chastising than his humored expression, and she ignored him nonetheless.

"Tell me," I demanded, not making any such promises or deals.

She pouted, but sighed. "It's Fashion Week in Paris after the holidays, and I need a new wardrobe."

My eyes trailed, disbelieving, to the completely filled closet behind her where she had, just moments ago, finished hanging up her new wardrobe. Her eyes followed mine briefly and then her brow puckered, glaring over at me. "For the _spring_ season, Bella. We aren't all like _you_. Some of us actually _care_ about the different seasons and the endless clothing possibilities."

I rolled my eyes but waved her on, knowing _that_ was a losing argument. "What does this have to do with Edward?"

"Well, as soon as the vision of the two of us in Paris came through, I had an equally as potent vision of Edward joining us and, coincidentally, monopolizing all of your time with site-seeing."

 _That's_ what she had been hiding? Edward's appearance, because she didn't want him to tag along? I could feel the incredulity sinking through my bones by the second along with the knowledge that, had Edward _known_ this was what she was hiding, he would have, undoubtedly, still been just as upset.

It seemed everyone in this family was overly dramatic.

"Alice," Jasper interrupted, moving to lean against the door frame that led into their enormous closet. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, his head resting against the border. "I am assuming he insists on following along because of France's close proximity to Italy?"

Alice frowned, her shiny lips puckering like a small child. "It's not like we're going to _Castellar_ ," she complained, letting the French name roll off the tip of her tongue. "There's no waythey'd even _know_ of our being in France."

 _They?_

"And, besides, I'd be able to see if they did. Paris is nearly seven hundred miles from Volterra!"

Oh, _they_ as in the Volturi. I shuddered just imaging being that close to them.

"And Bella has never even _been_ to Paris," she wailed, throwing her hands in the air, her eyes wide and on Jasper, pleading.

"I've never been to Europe in _general_ , Alice," I objected and she turned her starlit gaze on me.

"E _xactly_ ," she whined. "Don't you want to explore France, Spain, Switzerland?"

"Not if it's going to get me, or anyone else, killed," I huffed. "Besides, they have Fashion Week here, in New York."

She threw her arms out as though in a tantrum, her shoulders slumping. "It's not the _same_!" she cried.

"Take Rosalie!" I insisted, knowing full well I would _never_ be allowed that close to Italy. The Volturi didn't know of my existence and I knew that there was no plan in the near future to change that.

"Rosalie _hates_ Fashion Week! She thinks it's all over-glammed and senseless. The last time we went, she nearly _killed_ two of the designers!"

I tutted, rolling my eyes as Jasper sighed.

"I'm not going, Alice. Sorry," I finalized. Besides, I didn't even think I _wanted_ to travel without Edward. Could we even _be_ apart for that long?!

I turned to leave with a shake of my head and smile as Alice floundered around on the floor, clearly upset, and I could hear Jasper trying to console her.

"All he was going to do was take her to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, and to little gardens and cafés." I could practically _hear_ the pout in her tone. But, honestly, _that_ agenda didn't seem all that bad, especially with Edward.

"And then they miss the show and I'm sitting there by myself," she whined and, just as I was nearing the staircase, I heard Jasper say softly, "I'll go with you, darling," and Alice reply with a small, " _You will?_ " and my eyes couldn't roll hard enough. God, she was impossible sometimes, but I was happy that she was happy.

The small grin was back on my face by the time I rounded the bottom of the staircase and found Esme sitting in the kitchen, a packet of printed picture frames spread out before her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw me, and waved me over. "Which frame should we go with this year, do you think?"

My eyes scanned the hundreds of options, landing on the pile of old photos to the right of the sink. I lifted the first one, trying my hardest not to laugh at the outrageous outfits from the eighties. Most were still very standardly dressed – Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper – but Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice had taken it upon themselves to dress to the nines for each photograph, given the current style of the time. Alice and Rosalie were both donned with brightly colored leggings and hair scrunchies while Emmett wore a bright purple and blue tracksuit. They looked, to today's standards, ridiculous.

"Oh, come now," Esme chastised, watching as I bit my bottom lip to keep in a laugh. She reorganized the photographs into their respective years before I could completely ruin the arrangement. "You know we take a family portrait for every Christmas."

"Yeah," I answered, holding up the first picture they had ever taken. It was black and white and housed Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Rosalie. Edward, as he had in the beginning years, looked irritated and appalled with Rosalie's presence, but ethereal and stunning, nonetheless. I stared at his face for a little too long and put it down before Esme could notice. She was too busy voting out frames _to_ notice.

"Aren't these, like… _incriminating?_ I mean, if anyone found these…"

"They'd think we were very good and very _dedicated_ to taking old-time photographs," Esme insisted with a smile and I shook my head with a laugh.

I glanced over the photographs again, finding the first one I had been in. I was a mere infant, cradled in Rosalie's arms. That's when she and I got along, not that we didn't now, we were just very…different. I think she still saw me as a small child, and I was trying to prove that I was anything _but_. I was happy that Emmett and Rosalie were traveling to Africa for a little while. I didn't feel like hearing a never-ending lecture about my request to go to school with them next year.

Every picture following that year featured all eight of us housed in different locations – Edmonton, Ottawa, Nova Scotia, before moving towards New England: Maine, Vermont, New York. We moved around a lot in my first few years to stray from any wandering eyes, but it had been pretty standard ever since I stopped growing. But, just like the eight of us were a constant in each photograph, so was my proximity to Edward, save for the first year, though, if you looked closely, I was still reaching out towards him with my left hand.

The positioning moved from him holding me as a small child, to me on his shoulders, to me holding his hand, up until more recently where I was just standing either beside him or in front of him. There was, however, one photo from a couple of years back where his arms were wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me in to him, though it wasn't a stereotypical Cullen family portrait. Emmett had accidentally destroyed the tape for the other pictures we had taken that day, and a few candid shots were the only ones left.

Edward's chin rested on my shoulder, my smile showing nothing more than laughter as my hands gripped his arms, both of our heads turned to watch Rosalie, who was glaring over at Emmett as his fingers had pulled at the bottoms of her curls. Jasper and Alice were barely even _visible_ in the picture as they had been in the process of moving positions, and Carlisle and Esme stood to the side, not even looking at the camera, instead watching the group of us with smiling faces.

It wasn't the best picture we had taken, but it was the most _real_ and, ultimately, my favorite.

I smiled as I put it back in place, wiping a finger over the blur the surrounded Alice and Jasper. I wondered what the photographers thought when we lined up for photoshoots. I would have to ask Edward after we took ours this year.

"Pick one." I glanced over to where Esme had arranged five frames along the counter, each slightly similar to the rest. Shrugging, I pointed to the one closest to me – red and green. Esme grinned, and started taking away the rest when Alice's voice could be heard from the top of the staircase, "She's lying – she wants the blue and silver!"

It took everything within me to keep from rolling my eyes. Esme picked up the one Alice had been referring to – one I hadn't even _seen_ – and I pursed my lips.

"Fine," I huffed. "She's right."

Alice's tinkling laugh could be heard for nearly a full minute.


	3. Civil War

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **Twilight**_ **.**

 _ **A/N: Super short, but kind of fluffy! Next chapter will move on a bit more. :)**_

 _The Civil War reflected the constant tension between the American north and the American south – or, the Union and Confederate States of America. Starting in 1861..._

My eyes trailed from the looming pages of the textbook to the clock ticking away behind Carlisle's desk. It was just after four and I had been locked away in this room for the past hour and a half.

I was hungry, I was bored, I was starving for something else to do – _anything_ else. But exams were coming up to be placed in restrictive courses for the high school in the new town we were moving to after the spring. Well, new to me, anyways.

Most of the family had lived in Washington before, decades ago, and now that anyone who had been there when _they_ were there was either long gone or dead, it was safe to go back.

Forks was the name of the town.

 _Forks._

It sounded like a bad pun on an equally as bad town. Rosalie had insisted on the Pacific Northwest, and Forks seemed to have a pretty decent fraction of rainy-to-sunny days. But, as I had to remind myself often, _I_ was the only one who could actually _be_ in the sun without any attraction for the humans. _I_ didn't light up like a Swarovski diamond, so, I guess, _technically_ I couldn't complain about—

A sharp tapping against my forgotten textbook had me startling back to the present.

I blinked, my eyes focusing on Edward, sitting at the desk across from me, twenty or so notebook pages scattered before him. He had tapped the book with the cap of his pen which now, coincidentally, rested on the side of his mouth as he stared at me, one elegant eyebrow raised.

"What?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and dropped his position, letting the pen fall back to his essay. His foot reached the leg of my chair from beneath the table and gave it a short kick, pushing my chair out just enough so that I had to pull myself back in, huffing in annoyance.

"What do you mean, _what?_ " he said. "If you're going to be _this_ bored after an hour of reading—"

"It's been an hour and a _half_ ," I corrected, ignoring the way his shirt tightened over his chest as he leaned back and crossed his arms. I hoped he ignored the slight stutter to my heart, as well. I didn't know what had gotten into me over the past couple of months, but it seemed that everything Edward did put me…off. And not in a bad way.

"And why are you even writing anyway? Isn't everything typed now?" I tried desperately to change the subject, but it didn't seem to work. His eyes got that slight tight look around them before he closed them and leaned forward again, running a hand through his hair.

"Some teachers request handwriting," he answered simply.

"And you don't have this essay already written up?" It was very unlikely that any of them were given any topic that they hadn't done within the past five or so decades. Usually, they saved all of their assignments so they could just pass it in and I _knew_ Edward was no different.

He hummed in response for a moment and I thought that was my only answer until he brushed off the title page and held it up for me to read.

"' _Kahneman's Psychology of Judgement and Decision-Making_ '," I read slowly, glancing up at him with confusion.

"He just recently won a Nobel Prize," he explained.

Oh. So this topic was too recent to have been previously discussed in a different high school.

"Isn't that annoying?" I asked after I had watched him go back to his writing. He glanced up at me, his eyes liquid gold.

"What? Psychology?"

I smiled, knowing how hard it was for him to discern my silent thoughts. He _hated_ having to figure everything out through mindless hints; he was used to picking out any information he wanted without a problem.

" _Bella_ ," he sighed in exasperation, further proving my silent point and my smile grew.

"Not having a paper ready," I explained and he relaxed his tense muscles a bit.

"Oh," he said and then shrugged. "It's not that bad. I don't mind writing."

We were quiet for a while then. Edward went back to his writing and I went back to pretending I was reading, while _actually_ thinking about real school—not this fake, Carlisle-lending-me-textbooks bullshit. I didn't want to _read_ about history, I wanted to _learn_ it. Apparently, Edward, Em, Rose, Jas, and Alice always took entrance exams before attending any of the high schools they had joined. It was, like, a right of passage, or something if you were "homeschooled" beforehand. Of course, none of them had actually ever been homeschooled; Esme was, in fact, younger age-wise than some of the others. But, in order to determine which level class I needed to be placed in, entrance exams were a must. And non-negotiable.

And you'd think after all my arguing to be allowed to _go_ to school, I'd be completely fine with this new-found information. I guess I was just stubborn.

After a couple of minutes—or hours—had ticked by, Edward tossed his pen down to his paper and stared over at me, arms resting across the desk, his hands clasped over his paper.

"So, since you are clearly done reading…" he trailed off and I rolled my eyes, giving into my poor guise and shut the book in front of me. The Civil War could wait. The exams weren't for another few months, anyways.

"I _heard_ from Alice that she told you of the vision she was hiding from me?" He stared deadpanned at me, waiting for me to refute what he already knew to be true. I pursed my lips, deciding to take the silent route. He smiled, making a small sound of contentment. "Tell me what she saw," he demanded.

I pulled in a breath from my nose and shook my head.

" _Bella_ ," he said in that low voice he used when he was disappointed with something, but he wouldn't get me that easily.

"I promised her I wouldn't say anything," I said. "And Jasper knows, too. Why don't you ask him?"

"Because." He pulled in his legs and sat higher in his chair, leaning closer to me so that his upper body took up more than half of the wide desk. I could reach out and touch his nose if I wanted to. His eyes widened, the gold seeming to melt and burn in his irises and I already knew what he was going to say. "You are easy to persuade."

But it was only _he_ that could persuade me when he dazzled me like that.

"Now," he murmured in that low, velvety voice he saved especially for times such as this. "What did Alice see?"

I sucked in some air and held it, trying to force my eyes to wander from his, but they couldn't. He had me in his hands and he knew it. He smiled when I let out the breath I had been holding and watched as I fell straight into his trap. I closed my eyes, but the damage was already done. My mind was too fuddled to remember exactly _why_ I wasn't allowed to tell him and, besides, we weren't going anyways, so why did it matter?

"Alice saw the three of us in Paris," I groaned and already he was shaking his head in disagreement. "She wanted me to go to Fashion Week, but she didn't want you to _know_ we were going."

"Why not?" he asked angrily, and his fists clenched tightly. Because I knew Edward so well, I knew why he was upset. I reached over and put one of my hands over his fist, hoping to quell him. His eyes which had hardened in ire began to soften as he watched me.

"I'm not going with her, so it doesn't matter, but I _know_ I can't go to Europe, or anywhere close to the Volturi. Why do you think I told her no?" Well, that and the fact that I _really_ did not want to go with Alice Cullen to any sort of fashion show, ever.

Edward slipped his hand from underneath mine and moved them below the table, a pout on his brooding face. He stared out towards the window for a long moment before looking back at me. "Do you want to go to France? Because, if you do, we can _all_ go. But I'd really rather you didn't—it's just too close."

Close to Italy, he meant.

I smiled and shook my head. "I'm fine with Washington, for now."

And it was true. Even though I had never traveled outside of North America, for now, seeing the states was plenty for me. Going to _school_ was plenty for me. There was no need to become greedy when I had everything I needed and wanted in the palm of my hands.

Edward smiled, but the brooding atmosphere was still heavily situated around him. It was never easy to pull him out of this state. Once he heard something that disgruntled him, it was downhill from there.

But I knew one thing that, without fail, always seemed to lighten his mood.

I stood up, pushing my book back to the corner of the desk where Carlisle had left it this morning and reached my hand out to Edward. He stared at it and then at me. His mind must be flooded with horror scenarios involving me and the Volturi.

"Wanna go for a run?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

The shadow lifted from his face just enough to see that he wasn't clouded with dismay and he flashed me his lopsided grin, grabbing my hand.

I may even let him carry me on his back.


End file.
